This invention relates to all musical stringed instrument such as acoustic and electric guitars, violins, basses, and the like, herein collectively referred to simply as guitar, having a top pickup with or without a bottom pickup. Musical stringed instrument and guitar, herein are used interchangeably to mean the same thing. A majority of pickups convert acoustic energy from the vibrations of the strings into electric energy which is electromagnetically amplified. The pickup function through magnetic interaction between the pickup and the strings. The pickups usually include magneto-electro transducer elements designed to detect vibrations of the guitar strings. There are other types of pickups, one function through piezoelectric action, the piezo elements responding to the changes in pressure caused by the vibrations of the string. Another functions by detecting variances in the light beam corresponding to the frequency of the string's vibration.
In playing a guitar, a player needs to be able to fine tune the instrument so as to read the strings at different positions along their length. Most conventional pickup assemblies adjust in position up and down to control the distance between the pickup and the strings but are usually mounted at a specific location along the length of the strings such that a musician usually buys a couple of guitars with different positions of the pickup for specific range of tones and pitches. This problem has been addressed by providing slidable pickups. Slidable pickups provide the capability of pickup adjustments in between usage. U.S. Pat. No. 6,051,773 discloses pickups slidably mounted within the cavity of the body beneath the plurality of strings and a cover mounted on the body between the slidable pickup and the plurality of strings. U.S. Pat. No. 3,911,777 likewise discloses an electric guitar with open slidable pickup beneath the strings. The latter claims that this type of pickups will allow the player to adjust the tones while playing. While a player can change the pickup position anytime with slidable pickups, there is a chance that the tones will get disrupted if on the process of moving the pickup, the player or musician, accidentally touches the strings because the slidable pickup of these cited inventions are all located beneath the strings. It requires manual dexterity to be able to reach into the pickup without touching the strings.
The claimed invention differ from the above because the pick up is mounted on top of the strings, herein referred to as top pickup. The top pick up may be combined with at least one pickup mounted within the cavity of the guitar body beneath the plurality of strings, herein referred to as bottom pickup. To cover the full range and variety of tones and pitches, both the top and the bottom pickups are preferably but not necessarily slidable in a direction parallel to that of the strings. The top pickup, being above the strings, can be easily moved without disrupting the string and consequently, the tone. The top pickup can produce tones different from the bottom pickup. A slidable top pickup combined with a bottom pickup gives more flexibility and more variety of tones. With the use of both a permanent or slidable top pickup and a permanent or slidable bottom pickup, tones, pitches and harmonics different from and not reproducible with just the bottom pickups are achievable. A musician can choose to use only the top pickup, only the bottom pickup or both top and bottom and if there are more than one bottom or top pickups, select all these or a combination of these. When one calculates the number of combinations possible, one can see the flexibility and the number of tones possible with the application of the claimed invention.
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a musical stringed instrument with more variety of pitches and tones.
It is also an object of this invention to provide a slidable pickup that can travel at a greater distance along a guitar with a longer neck and longer cavity thereby producing pitches and tones not previously attainable.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a top pickup for musical stringed instruments.
It is also a further object of this invention to provide a top pickup that is readily slidable without the risk of touching on the strings.
It is still a further object of this invention to provide a top pickup that is not only slidable but also removable at will from the zone of the string vibration depending on the desired tone and pitch.
It is also a further object of this invention to provide multiple permanent or slidable bottom pickups.